Method of opening sheet-metal packs



METHOD OF OPENING SHEET METAL PACKS. A P P L l C A T l 0 N F l L E D S E P T 1 3 y i 9 2 0.

NNNNNN o R sfro C. J. ANGSTROM. METHOD OF OPENING SHEET METAL PACKS.

a sums-sum 2 INv m-oR Carl J. Amg'sfr APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I3, 1920. 1,420,359. Patented June 20, 1922.

c. LANGSTROM.

METHOD OF OPENING SHEET META L PACKS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 13, 1920.

1,420,359. Patented June 20, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- l INVENTOR.

(afrl If/122 5775:

ff/26W CARL l ANGsTRoM, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO S. DIESCHER & SONS, OF PITTSBURGH, BENNSYLVANTA, A PARTNEBSHIE.

IIIETHOD OF OPENING SHEET-IVIETAL PACKS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Julie 20, 1922.

Application filed September 13, 1920. Serial No. 410,071.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL J. ANcsTRoM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Methods of Opening Sheet-Metal Packs, of. which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to methods of opening sheet-metal packs, whose individual sheets or laminations have become stuck together during rolling or annealing. V

The object of my invention is to provide a method which automatically weakens or destroys the adherence or sticking of the sheets of a pack. Other objects appear hereinafter.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a vertical cross-section of one form of a machine by which my invention may be practised, with some parts omitted and others represented conventionally; Fig. 2, a side elevation of the rolls which I use, to.- gether with a portion of their driving mech anism, parts being omitted; Fig.3, a plan view of one end of my machine with the parts above the neck of the upper roll omitted; and Fig. 4, a side view of a member 27 together with some details of its securing devices.

On the drawings, 1 and 2 designate the housings of the three high mill having the lower roll 3, the middle roll 4,..andthe top roll 5. The rolls 3, 4, and 5 are separately driven by the three spindles 6, 7 ,and 8, respectively, coupled to the respective shafts 9, l0, and 11 mounted in the housings l2 and 13. The shaft 10 is extended beyond the housing 13 and has its outer endsupported in the standard 14. The shaft 10 is driven by the wheel 15 which may be driven from any suitable source of power. The shaft 10 carries also the pinion 16 between the housings l2 and 13, the pinion meshing with the two pinions Or spur-gears 17 and 18 on the respective shafts 9 and 11. It is preferable to drive the rolls 3 and 4 at the same sur face speed, which is accomplished by properly proportioning the number of teeth on the pinions 16 and 17, and to drive the roll 4 at a slower surface speed than the roll 5, which may be accomplished in any suitable manner, but we accomplish it by making the pinion 18 the same size as the pinion 17, and making the diameter of the roll 4 less than that of the roll 5, as is clearly shown on Figs. 1,2 and 3.

1A feeding table 19 is arranged in front of the pass 22 between the rolls 3 and 4 and is secured'to the housings 1 and 2 by bolts, one end'being shown on Fig. 3 secured to the housing 1 by the bolt 20, the other end of the table and its fastening not being shown as they are precisely like those shown. This table is provided with the ribs 21 on its upper surface so that the tongs, by which. the packs are handled, may have its lower jaw slid beneath apack while on the: table in order to grasp the pack, whenever necessary, after it has been laid on the table.

At the side of the rolls opposite thefeedtable 19 is a guide for directing the packs from the pass 22 between rolls 3 and 4 into the pass 23 between the rolls 4 and 5. This guide is Preferably ofa composite nature and is preferably constructed in the man ner now to be described.

A bar 24 is arranged behind the roll 4 and parallel therewith, the ends of the bar being secured to the housings l and 2, one end thereof being shown in Fig. 3 secured to the housing 1 by the bolt 25. The other end of the bar and its fastening are not shown as they are like those described. The bar has on its upper corner nearest the roll 4 the longitudinal groove 26, opening upwardly and toward the roll, 4. Disposed in this groove are the rearends of a series of alternately arranged guide members 27 and 28.

The lower face of the end of each guidemember rests on the bottom of the groove 26, and the rear face of the rear end of each guide-member abuts against the rear face of the said groove or against the shims 29, inserted behind the guide members to compensate for wear on the guide faces or to bring the guide faces to the proper distance from the roll 4 The forward ends of the guide-members are broadened vertically and curved on an arc concentric with the periphery of the roll 4 and spaced from that roll so as to leave a suitable curved passage 30 between the roll 4 and the guide-members from the pass 22 to the pass 23. Each guidemember 27 extends principally above the axial center of the roll 4, its upper forward end terminating in the are 31 opposite the upper portion of the pass 23. The upper side of each guide-member. 27 has a longitudinal groove spanned by the cross-pin 32,

to which the hook 23 of the anchor rod 34 'is applied, the rear end of the rod extending through the bar 24. A nut is screwed on the outer end of each rod 34 and against the rear face of the bar 24 to hold the guidemember 27 in place.

Each guide-member 28 lies mostly below the axial center of the roll 4 and has the front angle 42 projecting toward the pass 22 and lying upon the roll 3 so as to guide the packs up into the passage 30 and prevent any of the sheets of the pack starting down on the roll 3 or engaging the end of the guide-member. Each member 28 is held in place by the anchor rod 36 having its hook 37 caught over the pin 38 in the said memher. The outer end of the rod 36 extends through the flange 39 on the lower side of the bar 24. A helical spring 40 surrounds the rod at the outer face of the flange 39 and bears against the latter. A nut 41 on the outer end of each rod gives the desired tension on the spring, which allows the member 28 to yield to any irregularities in the surface of the roll 3, and lie closely thereon. Each member 27 has a lower projection V 42', this projection lying at the side of the main body of the adjacent member 28. The projection 42 on each member 27 has the cross-pin 43 to which a hooked rod 44 is connected just as each rod 36 is connected to the pin 38 in the member 28. Each rod passes through the flange 39 and the nut 45 thereon is screwed up against the outer face of the flange to draw the member 27 down tightly on itsseat, and, in cooperation with the rod 34 hooked to the same member 27, to hold the latter rigidly.

Above the feed-table 19 may be placed the receiving table 46 with its top surface flat and about in line with the bottomof the pass 23. An apron 47 is loosely hooked to the front edge of the table 46 and has its sharp front edge resting on the roll 4 to direct the packs from the pass 23 to the table 46.

' The operation is as follows: The rolls 3, 4,

and 5 rotating in the directions indicated by the arrows on Fig. 1, a pack of sheet-metal is pushed from the feed-table 19 into the pass 22. The rolls 3 and 4 feed the pack through the curved passage 30 and into the pass 23, the rolls 4 and 5 pulling the pack out of the passage 30 and feeding it to fiattopped table 46. In the passage 30 each pack is given a curve corresponding to that of the passage. During the curving of the pack the position of each sheet relative to its adjacent sheet is changed, the adhesion of the sheets being thereby broken or weakened. As the pack is drawn through the rolls 4 and 5, a humped line or ridge is formed just back of the rolls. The humping, due to the slower speed of the roll 5 compared with that of the roll .4, is pro gressively greater from the roll 4 toward the roll 5. entirely loosened by the curved passage 30, is lessened or removed by the slipping of the sheets on one another by the progressive travel of the hump from the one side of the pack to the other.

While good results are obtained when the surface speed of the rolls 4 and 5 are equal, better results are obtained if one of them, preferably the one working on the convexed side of the pack, has a slightly slower speed, which in the present instance is brought about by making the roll 5 slightly smaller than required to make its surface speed equal to that of the roll 4.

I claim Q a The method of opening packs of sheet metal which consists in giving the pack a curvature and then causing the pack to be given a transverse pressure progressively moving from one edge to the opposite edge of the pack, and at the same time causing the pressure at opposite sides of the pack to travel at different speeds.

Signed at Pittsburgh, Pa, this 10th day of September, 1920. j j a CARL J. ANGSTROM.

The adherence of the sheets, if not 

